this morning on "early today," america rising. irsporns policies according to president obama. and a heat wave. and home on the range. record numbers turn out on the great plains. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good tuesday morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with taking aim on the trail. president obama took republicans to task for their proposed

pledge to america yesterday, calling their policies, "irresponsible." today the president sets out on a campaign swing with stops planned in four states to sell his plan to fix the economy. tracie potts is in washington, d.c. live with us this morning with the latest. good morning to you, tracie. >> reporter: veronica, good morning. you will see the president's events take on a distinct campaign-like feel. two goals swinging through several states. first of all, to energize young voters, and as you said, sell his economic recovery plan. it's a plan that now includes a new $30 billion fund for small businesses. he signed that into law yesterday. the idea is to provide them more money so these businesses can expand, and hopefully hire more workers and affect the low jobless rate in this country. this is a message he'll take to albuquerque, new mexico, today, as president obama continues with the white house called a series of backyard meetings with voters. something that worked in his campaign that he's hoping will work in this election as well.

and then later tonight, a big rally at the university of wisconsin to draw those young voters. as we get closer to this election, more criticism from democrats, from the white house on republicans. president obama calling the republicans pledge to america irresponsible. he said it's like handing $100,000 check to the rich if you give everyone a tax break. veronica? >> nbc's tracie potts, thank you so much. american students and teachers could be in for major changes. an interview, part of nbc news education nation, programming on concerns about the education system. the president talked about what he wants to see at schools including identifying teachers who do well and getting rid of those who don't. he also discussed an idea that probably won't sit so well with most kids. >> i think we should have longer school years. we now have our kids go to school about a month less than

most other advanced countries. and that month take as difference. >> don't forget, our coverage of education nation continues on the "today" show and on nbc "nightly news"right here on this nbc station. and for morews resources and information, check out our special website -- educationnation.com. palestinian president mahmoud abbas says he will wait at least one week before deciding whether or not to quit middle east peace talks with israel. that development comes after the united states, france, england and the united nations all expressed disappointment over israel's refusal to extend a 10-month building freeze on settlement construction in the west bank. meanwhile, george mitchell was sent to israel in hopes of breaking the stalemate in the peace negotiations. the old saying might be it never rains in southern california, literally never hotter there than yesterday. downtown los angeles hit 113 degrees breaking the all-time record of 112 set in june, 1990.

this led to tense of thousands of power outages, and the dry conditions have phi figfirefigh alert for fires. making news "early today" in america, in texas, an elderly couple is dead and one firefighters recovering after a two alarm fire broke out in an apartment complex. forced to retreat when live ammunition started going off. authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. in south dakota, the annual roundup of a free roaming buffalo herd in the custard state park attracted thousands. once a year the herd is rounded up the old-fashioned way for a visit to the buffalo doctor, if you will, where they'll be sorted, vaccinated, branded and then released to once again roam freely, home on the range. a new exhibit opens in new york today.

the yom dynasty exhibit. the more than 200 artifacts dating as far back as the late 1200s belonged to the grand son of ghengis khan. many items on display have never been seen outside of china. and a taiwan man claims he's got the fastest lawn mower ever, averaging speeds of 96 miles an hour. he ran several heats to get to an average. a huge jump from his previously held record of 81 miles an hou . nevertheless, says he'll be back racing to his goal of 100 miles per hour. now for a look at your national regional weather, here's meteorologist from channel 4. >> good morning, veronica good to see you. checking out the forecast for today, all the rain push off to the east coast. we are dealing with dry conditions mainly to the west. we do have a chance for a few thunderstorms to pop up in the desert southwest. otherwise, the big story has

been the heat, and no doubt l.a. with the hottest day on record, 113. that was the high for yesterday. temperatures are going to start to back off and the heat will start to back off with an onshore flow developing over the next couple of days. so 101 today and then by tomorrow we'll see that come down, and temperatures should be in the upper 90s. still dealing with rain through washington, though. scattered showers, maybe a rumble or two. other than that, we are high and dry with 90 in billings. 90 in casper. 87 in salt lake city. plenty of sunshine. nice, dry weather. and through the desert southwest we have thunderstorms pop up. we could have a chance for some fires breaking out with any of that dry lightning, perhaps. that is something we do have to watch. otherwise, it's looking good across the east coast.

santa rosa, california, looking good with 98. and that's a look at your forecast. veronica? 101 degrees in l.a., somebody has to tell los angeles summer is over. what's going on? too crazy. big business dealmakers say gobble, gobble, ben & jerry go unnatural, and pumpkin shortage? what pumpkin shortage. and george lopez may divorce his wife but he can never really get away from her. the phillies pop the champagne and the battle of unbeatens goes down to the wire in chicago. you're watching "early today."

good morning to you and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz and here

are some of your taj headlines this morning -- north korean state media reports kim jong-il has appointed his son kim jong un. the promotion came just hours before a rare party ruling meeting to elect top leadership. this to elect its top leadership. chilean president hugo chavez says his country is carrying out initial studies for carrying out a nuclear program. chavez brought the issue up during a news conference monday saying venezuela needs nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. in georgia last night a prisoner who tried to kill himself last week by slashing his arms and throat was executed. 30-year-old brannon rhodes was put to death for killing three people in a burglary back in 2000. a dallas judge has overturned the 1993 conviction of a deaf man sent to prison for raping a 5-year-old girl, despite a lack of physical

evidence linking him to the attack. the 39-year-old, stephen broedy is expected to be released sometime today. and the owner of the segway company is dead after falling off of a cliff riding one of the machines. the 62-year-old was testing a cross-country version of a segway near his estate in england sunday when he lost control of it. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 10,112 after falling 48 points yesterday. the s&p last 6 points and the nasdaq fell 11. taking a look at overseas trading. tokyo, sank 107 points. in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 230. on the heels of a strong rally yesterday, wall street investors took a pause. however, corporate dealmakers were busy. dallas based southwest airlines bought airtran for $1.4 billion. despite the rumblings of higher ticket prices, airtran soared

61% while southwest shot up nearly 9%. more ma action on the streets. alberta shares jumped after unilever discussed adding v05 to its lineup. elsewhere, overseas, walmart is looking to expand oversees to buy south african retailer mass mart. research in motion is hoping its blackberry playbook will be a game changer in the market. a seven inch screen and adobe access. no word yet on a release date or price point, but experts expect the notebook to start around $500. ice cream kings ben & jerry's have agreed to drop the phrase "all natural" from their offerings since there are certain they are not all natural ingredients. meanwhile, the federal trade commission says there is no

evidence to backup makers of palm wonderful. that's a pricey pomegranate juice that suggests specific health benefits. and on the street, the great pumpkin shortage of 2009 is over. the country's top producer says this year's crop is healthy and cans are arriving in stores. after heavy rain last year caused a shortage. business is good now. once again, the phillies and the yanks and the passing of a legend. plus, the bears stamper past the packers in the monday night matchup. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we are looking at extreme heat to the west and extreme rain to the east. we'll have a look at your tuesday forecast coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, two undefeated and storied franchises got together last night in chicago as the bears and packers renewed the nfl's oldest rivalry. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. for the third straight week, the monday night football game decided in the final minutes. bears and packers. pick it up in the fourth.

packers up, 10-7. they made a huge mistake. kicked it right to devin hester who hit as hole and there he goes. 62 yards to it house. his eighth punt return for a touchdown in his career and the bears were up, 14-10. but the packers answered the scramble, aaron rogers scrambled and called his own number. past the pile line and in for the score. a gutsy play and the packers led, 17-14. final seconds, tied at 17. bears milked the clock. robbie gold came in and nailed a 19-yarder. bears remain undefeated with a 20-17 win. some sad news from the football world. hall of fame quarterback and kicker george blanda passed away yesterday. he played a record 26 years retiring one month shy of his 40th birthday. he played for the bears, colts and oilers, but will best be remembered for his years with the niners. blue jays, this is not how you want to start a game. a lineup stumbled off the mound. that's an unusual first pitch. with a start like that, you can

only get better. at one point, he struck out seven straight. he finished with nine ks. blue jays put up five in the third. 31st of the season. yanks missed a chance to win a playoff spot. toronto won it 7-5. speaking of clenching, phils had the champagne on ice. popping the cork. a towering shot, philadelphia led it, 1-0. that's all they need because roy halladay was dealing. gave up just two hits. struck out danny espinosa. the phils win their fourth straight n.l. east crown with an 8-0 win over washington. rays and marlins, needed extra innings. ended with a walk-off single in the 11th. braves won, 2-1, now a half game up in the n.l. wild card race. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. the latest lindsay lohan lunacy, your early morning entertainment headlines straight ahead. plus, washed away from flooding. a treasured american landmark make as comeback. you're watching "early today."

good morning. i'm meteorologist domenica davis. the heat is backing off in the west. l.a., hottest day on record yesterday with 113. down to 101. that is a significant difference. 103 in las vegas. the differences, we start to get an onshore flow bringing

moisture and help back off all of that heat. up to the north, seattle 71 today, and that's what we're looking at showers. wednesday's temperatures get better falling into the upper 80s in los angeles. could have some thunderstorms in the desert southwest. if you're watching on kcar 3 in sacramento, california, give your inner artist a chance to brack out with life drawing and painting sessions featuring live posing models at the capital art center at s12. that's your pacific event of the day, veronica. >> what about sacramento? a warm day there as well? >> plenty of lied in the west. >> yikes. ouch. all right. see you. take a look now at this morning's headlines in entertainment -- does she finally get? the current lindsay lohan question. while lohan visited a homeless shelter last weekend, saying all the right things about addiction, some have doubts. last week reports that she spent the weekend calling photo agencies shopping pictures of

herself posing for $10,000 in her alcohol monitoring ankle bracelet. gloria stuart, 1930s hollywood beaut high gave up acting only to return as the oldest academy award nominee for the "titanic" movie died at the age of 100. conan o'brien band leader won't be joining him on his new late-night show. in the case of george lopez and wife ann, there is an unusual wrinkle. the two are amicably splitting after 17 years, but george can never truly say good-bye to ann. you see, five years ago had he was suffering from a genetic kidney disorder, she saved his life donating him one of her kidneys. just going back for two seconds to lindsay lohan. just once, just once i would love to be on the air where we don't have to say those two words. just once. >> so lard to comment, because the story goes on and on and on. we've run out of comments.

right? >> she's a train wreck. >> exactly. >> everybody loves a good comeback. we'll check to see. thanks. from wsmv 4 news, shining once again. the grand old opry opened its doors for a special concert after recent floods severely damaged to completely wash away what some call the home of american music. the only reminder of the disaster, the flood line on the wall in a piece of the original stage where many a star was born. very cool. i think yao a fan of country music? >> i am. never been there. aul always wanted to go. all over the state of tennessee, never have seen that. >> day trip. let's do it. i'm veronica de la cruz, this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

in abu dhabi, dimtds are no longer just a girls' best friend. unveiled. engine and wheel covers the glold plated, seats made of ostrich leather, and as you might imagine, that's luxury coming at a steep price. each of the bling bling mobiles sell for more than half a million dollars. wow. dogs might be known at man's best friend but can serve other species as well. in china, one kind hearted canine adopted four white tiger cubs. the mother who recently gave birth herself called in to help nurse the cub back to health. now the mom, puppies and her cubs are all inseparable.

too cute. hey there, a contender for man's best friend. check this out. the crocodile. one fisherman in costa rica rescued a crocodile from near death 20 years again. since then, taught him to perform tricks and now the pair performs for touristshe might not be as cute and cuddly he can roll over like your average pup might. what do you think about that? >> everybody needs a best friend in life. right? clearly. >> one with a croc. >> if it doesn't work out, you have yourself a nice handbag or pair of shoes. >> exactly. time for an early look at some of the stories we're following throughout the day right here on nbc. longtime alaskan senator ted stevens bur buried at arlington national cemetery. he was 86 years old. and a gas pipeline blast in california. among those attending, the

president of pacific gas and electric company, the firm that ran the pipe that exploded killing seven people. happy birthday to brigitte bardot. she turns 76 today. [ speaking in foreign language ]. all day long stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on nbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, a look what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. new york city mayor michael bloomberg weighs in on a variety of hot topics. nbc's special education nation continues with an important look at crucial early years of learning. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station. enjoy your tuesday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com